Some thoughts on the Immigration issue…
We have all been watching as millions of people from the Middle East have been flooding into the western world. Many sovereign nations have been forced by their politicians to accept a never ending stream of people that, at best, have little to no interest in understanding or assimilating into the countries and cultures where they have been deposited. At worst, these newcomers seek to destroy and plant seeds of discord for the future. You need only look at the sequence of events in Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, England and others to see that blanket entry with no vetting has serious consequences. Therein lies the rub. How do you vet people that you can’t identify? Obviously, there are people in this mix that are fleeing hardship and need help. How do you discern who those people are and contrast them against those who want to do you harm? The question becomes…do you risk the safety and security of all who have a right to be where they are, in order to accept masses of people that you can’t identify by name or intention? If you look to the recent decisions by the people of England (BREXIT) and the citizens of the United States with regard to the last election, it appears that people are beginning to stand up against the “one world” idea and the inherent security risks it poses. The coming elections in both Germany and France will be very telling as to how the European Union will orient itself going forward…if the European Union survives at all.
Now, let’s bring this line of thought back to where it belongs. The United States of America. We have seen multiple instances on our own soil of terrorist acts being committed by people that were granted Visa Waivers. Essentially, a skip all of the difficult and time consuming parts of the immigration process and just come right on in “pass”. Combine that with the disaster of some of our individual state governments sponsoring illegal immigration here in the United States and what do you get? An environment that is ripe for insurgency in a world that has no shortage of people that want to promote terror in the NOW, and plant seeds of destruction for the FUTURE. Entry into this country for non-natives is a privilege not a right. There needs to be a process that makes sense before entry should occur for anyone. I happen to know a little bit about this point which is where you get a glimpse into my life.
Up until 2012, I had spent a number of years in Central America. I met the woman that I love in my travels and we spent years together. Her name is Carmen. Upon my return in 2012, I began to build Gunshine Arms in order to create an infrastructure that would support us financially and allow me to bring Carm here to the States. Our lives have been essentially on PAUSE for quite some time. Almost two years ago, the business hit a stride that allowed us to get married and begin the immigration process to bring her here. The immigration process has taken almost 18 months from beginning to end, it has been expensive, arduous, at times unbelievably frustrating, and at other times infuriating. IT SHOULD BE DIFFICULT TO IMMIGRATE HERE. I am not bitter that the process was difficult. I was born here, and as such I have certain inalienable rights. Carm has been granted the privilege of immigrating here because we are married and because of the way she has conducted herself throughout her life. It is my responsibility over the coming years to help her convert that privilege into a right. She has embraced the idea of being an American. I am looking forward to adding her uniqueness to the world we live in here.
It seems to me that when normal, law abiding people are forced to jump through a system of flaming bureaucratic hoops in order to achieve a desired result, everyone should have to endure the same system. If you are trying to immigrate from a conflict zone of the world that has a well established history of trying create mayhem inside our sovereign borders, you should not be afforded some benefit of the doubt about your identity or intentions that was not afforded to people such as my wife and I. I hear a lot about a quest for equality for all people here in the United States. I’m all for equality but it begins with the same standards being applied to everyone equally, and also with an obedience to the laws that make our country safe. Our government proclaims that it wants to help people. I would respectfully suggest that there are another group of people that need help already inside our borders. American Citizens with skill sets who can make a positive impact on our country. They are called Combat Veterans. They need assistance assimilating back into the world they have spent time protecting. There seems to be billions of dollars available to help people from the other side of the world. Might be time for some fund reallocation.
I wanted to introduce you all to the fact that you will see Carm at Gunshine Arms in the near future. She will be learning English as a second language as well as all of the norms and customs that make America great. Those of you that know me solely through the lens of a shopkeeper know the way that I treat all of you. Always with patience and respect. Please afford those same traits to my wife as she embraces this great country we live in and gets up to speed on communication skills and (God help us all) learning to drive. As always, thank you for reading the Blog at gunshinearms.com
